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In vino veritas - what wine are you drinking?

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  • Registered Users Posts: 9,151 ✭✭✭limnam


    dudara wrote: »
    Aldi had bottles of Recioto di Soave and Recioto della Valpolicella in over Christmas. For those of you not familiar with it, Recioto is an Italian sweet wine where grapes are allowed to partially dry before wine making. Recioto comes from around the Verona / Lake Garda region.

    I hadn’t been overly impressed with the Soave, but I opened the bottle of Valpolicella last night to go with some cheese, and I really liked it. It’s not lusciously sweet but pretty nice. I think Aldi still have it on sale in some shops, but reduced now to €8 (IIRC).

    Purchased before xmas for after dinner but it never got opened in the end.

    You've given me the nudge to get it open :)


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,830 ✭✭✭CountingCrows


    I used to drink mainly Rioja but lately I’m leaning towards Montepulciano and Bordeaux’s. Thanks for that great suggestion, nothing to lose at that price for box of 6.
    dudara wrote: »
    Do you have any preferred red styles / grapes?

    SuperValu are selling a wooden box of 6 Spanish reds at the moment for €50. Three Rioja and three Tempranillo. But all are “ecological”, not quite sure what translates as. I find the Tempranillo to be a bit grippy and green yet although it’s still very drinkable, but the Rioja is pretty good. And you can do the maths at €50 for 6 bottles.

    Lots of organic reds coming from Spain right now actually, particularly southern areas like Jumilla. The warm, dry climate makes organic easier to achieve.


  • Registered Users Posts: 33,519 ✭✭✭✭dudara


    Lots of vineyards are moving towards organic & biodynamic in execution. But it costs a lot to get full certification, so they may not go the full hog. For instance, we were in Château de la Dauphine in Fronsac, Bordeaux about two years ago and they were nearly fully biodynamic. It might not say it on their label but they’re effectively there.


  • Registered Users Posts: 9,151 ✭✭✭limnam


    I used to drink mainly Rioja but lately I’m leaning towards Montepulciano and Bordeaux’s. Thanks for that great suggestion, nothing to lose at that price for box of 6.

    The MontepulcianoI posted earlier in the thread is organic if you're happy to order on-line

    https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=105825415&postcount=12


  • Registered Users Posts: 33,519 ✭✭✭✭dudara


    We were out for dinner last night in Locks, Portobello. They have a great selection of Portuguese wines (several Portuguese members of staff) and I ordered Quinta do Cidrô Chardonnay, from the Duoro. According to the website “it is fermented and aged in french oak barriques under the process of batonage with lees. It reveals a beautiful golden colour and a complexity of tropical fruit aromas with smokey oak nuances of toast”

    My verdict: very reminiscent of a quality Burgundy, at easily half the price. Lovely finish of toasted hazelnuts and good texture.

    100394-3.jpg


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  • Registered Users Posts: 9,151 ✭✭✭limnam


    It can be very hard to find a nice Ripasso, nicest I have found in Ireland is a Villa erbice in the winebuff, but it is a little pricey at 28 euro. I really would suggest the valpolicello from the wine buff and decant it for a couple of hours better value and it is one of my go to wines.
    http://www.thewinebuff.com/italian-red-wine-erbice-valpolicello

    Picked it up today and it's in the decanter

    Will report back :D


  • Registered Users Posts: 27,387 ✭✭✭✭odyssey06


    Picked up a bottle of an ALDI special, quite an unusual one to see here - "Oddlot", a blend of Petite Sirah and Petit Verdot from the Monterey region of California. It was very nice, savoury, went well with confit duck. Two drawbacks is the price at €13.99 and it's 14.5% so you might feel it the next day, although it doesn't taste overpowering so well-balanced.

    One to try if you're looking for something different, but given the quality of the ALDI €7 - €10 regular range, now that I've ticked the box, probably not worth paying the extra few euros for another bottle.

    More info here:
    https://www.beoddwines.com/

    "To follow knowledge like a sinking star..." (Tennyson's Ulysses)



  • Registered Users Posts: 9,151 ✭✭✭limnam


    It can be very hard to find a nice Ripasso, nicest I have found in Ireland is a Villa erbice in the winebuff, but it is a little pricey at 28 euro. I really would suggest the valpolicello from the wine buff and decant it for a couple of hours better value and it is one of my go to wines.
    http://www.thewinebuff.com/italian-red-wine-erbice-valpolicello

    Thanks for the tip on this I really enjoyed it. Decanted for aprox 2 hours and had with a nice bit of beef from the English market. Probably won't be having it often at 28e though. I'd love to find one drinkable at around 10e the hunt goes on :D


  • Registered Users Posts: 33,519 ✭✭✭✭dudara


    Ripasso involves making wine with partially dried grapes. Given that there is a bit of extra Labour required in its manufacture, it will be hard to get a good one around €10. Good wine around €10 is hard enough.

    Because it’s going to be cold tonight, I’ve just picked up a bottle of Ravenswood Old Vine Lodi Zinfandel at Donnybrook Fair (c€23, which I think is pricey as I’ve bought this before for €18). Love this wine, lots of dark fruit, chocolate & spice.

    mediumCutout.jpg


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,645 ✭✭✭Melendez


    This post has been deleted.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 33,519 ✭✭✭✭dudara


    Absolutely correct, Ripasso is essentially a secondary product from the production of Amarone, which is the more high value product. However, while Ripasso will be cheaper, I still think €10 for a decent bottle is a bit unrealistic, probably more like €20.


  • Registered Users Posts: 27,387 ✭✭✭✭odyssey06


    Marechal Gevrey Chambertin, Red Burgundy (Pinot Noir)... got it as a present, think it was in the LIDl Chirstmas specials.
    A lovely wine, perfectly described below by Matthew Nugent in The Sun.
    That said, I think there are even nicer pinot noirs out there more readily available at similar prices or cheaper e.g. Innocent Bystander Pinot Noir, some of the Californians in O'Briens. To continue the pinot review, I was disappointed with the Underwood from Oregon available in M&S.

    In hindsight, it would have been the ideal wine for mid afternoon Christmas dinner of turkey and ham!

    "Intense liquorice and cherry nose with a strawberry and raspberry palate and nice minerality. Light, yet complex with good length."

    msemail_marechal_gevrey_chambertinjpg-js373533930.jpg?strip=all&w=333&quality=100

    "To follow knowledge like a sinking star..." (Tennyson's Ulysses)



  • Registered Users Posts: 33,519 ✭✭✭✭dudara


    SuperValu have a new wine offer on Bordeaux wines

    http://twitter.com/ocallaghan74/status/967384447673950208


  • Registered Users Posts: 27,387 ✭✭✭✭odyssey06


    dudara wrote: »
    SuperValu have a new wine offer on Bordeaux wines...

    They have run that before but my local SV in D3 had none ... we look fwd to the reviews!

    "To follow knowledge like a sinking star..." (Tennyson's Ulysses)



  • Registered Users Posts: 9,151 ✭✭✭limnam


    odyssey06 wrote: »
    They have run that before but my local SV in D3 had none ... we look fwd to the reviews!

    French wine for the most part never really grabbed me. Saying thatI've not tasted much of it and know little about it. I'm also not exactly sure why.

    I think it's partly down to been not able to find relativity cheapish good French wine. The odds always seem far greater when choosing a French wine. Where it's relatively easy to find great Italian/Spanish/Portuguese reasonably priced wines. This could all be in my head but it's there none the less.

    Also looking forward to the reviews of this and more French wine here as I always feel I'm missing out on so much and need to venture out and try more.

    Also any recommendations on good places to start/bottles to try would be welcomed :)


  • Registered Users Posts: 27,387 ✭✭✭✭odyssey06


    limnam wrote: »
    I think it's partly down to been not able to find relativity cheapish good French wine. The odds always seem far greater when choosing a French wine. Where it's relatively easy to find great Italian/Spanish/Portuguese reasonably priced wines. This could all be in my head but it's there none the less.

    If you're looking at under 10 euros, then yes usally better value futher south.
    At around 15 euros you can start to pick up some lovely French reds.

    Usually in France there's better value in the regions of the South (Rhone) and South West (Languedoc, Roussillon) than the more famous regions of Bordeaux and Burgundy.

    I am a big fan of the Guigal Cotes du Rhone, think it's about €16 in Supervalu and off licences. LIDL have a 'rustic' Cotes du Rhone for just over €6 that is a bit rough around the edges but certainly packs a punch.
    Both would be ideal 'winter warmers' :)

    Keep an eye out for Supervalu's "Rare Vineyards" and "La Petite Perriere" labels which are often on offer for just under €10.

    ps I'm talking reds here btw, French whites are a whole other story

    This is the LIDL one:
    713193.jpg

    "To follow knowledge like a sinking star..." (Tennyson's Ulysses)



  • Registered Users Posts: 9,151 ✭✭✭limnam


    odyssey06 wrote: »
    I am a big fan of the Guigal Cotes du Rhone, think it's about €16 in Supervalu and off licences. LIDL have a 'rustic' Cotes du Rhone for just over €6 that is a bit rough around the edges but certainly packs a punch.
    Both would be ideal 'winter warmers' :)

    I think I've seen you mention the Guigal before as i have it marked down to buy and try. Was it yourself that had it for xmas dinner?
    odyssey06 wrote: »
    ps I'm talking reds here btw, French whites are a whole other story

    I'd say 90% of my wine drinking is red.

    Thanks for the recommendations.


  • Registered Users Posts: 33,519 ✭✭✭✭dudara


    I tend to love the reds from the Rhone valley, north and south. We were at the match today, and afterwards, we stopped at The French Paradox for a glass of wine. We ended up ordering a bottle of this Domaine Saint Pierre Vacqueyras 2014 for ~€42.

    Vacqueyras is from the southern Rhone and is probably one of my favourite AOCs from that region.

    Lovely, easy drinking red, perhaps a bit on the lighter side. Definite cherries, and berry fruit. Silky, lovely texture. This one is 60% Grenache, 40% Syrah.

    Document11.jpg


  • Registered Users Posts: 33,519 ✭✭✭✭dudara


    limnam wrote: »
    French wine for the most part never really grabbed me. Saying thatI've not tasted much of it and know little about it. I'm also not exactly sure why.

    I think it's partly down to been not able to find relativity cheapish good French wine. The odds always seem far greater when choosing a French wine. Where it's relatively easy to find great Italian/Spanish/Portuguese reasonably priced wines. This could all be in my head but it's there none the less.

    Also looking forward to the reviews of this and more French wine here as I always feel I'm missing out on so much and need to venture out and try more.

    Also any recommendations on good places to start/bottles to try would be welcomed :)

    French wine never really caught my interest when I was "younger". Other regions appealed to me because they simply tasted better. However, over time, and especially as I studied for my WSET Level 2 and Level 3, I learned (and tasted) more and more about French wine. I think everyone has a "lightbulb" wine moment, when you taste one that makes you think "this is what all the fuss is about". For me, that lightbulb wine was a white Burgundy from Puligny-Montrachet. I just went....mmmm.

    France is one of the homes of winemaking and understanding French wines (to any degree) will greatly help you appreciate wines and winemaking in any other country.


  • Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 67,085 Mod ✭✭✭✭L1011


    As a wine luddite who only drinks white due to 'drinkability' - yet drinks whisk(e)y which is similarly difficult to get in to - is there a recommended set of mid-range reds to try for variety? Feel like I've excluded an obviously huge area of drinking for too long


    Actually, I probably need to do that for white too, divide them to 'sweet' and 'sharp' and very little else and generally buy by price and country alone rather than varietal or anything else.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 27,387 ✭✭✭✭odyssey06


    L1011 wrote: »
    As a wine luddite who only drinks white due to 'drinkability' - yet drinks whisk(e)y which is similarly difficult to get in to - is there a recommended set of mid-range reds to try for variety? Feel like I've excluded an obviously huge area of drinking for too long
    Actually, I probably need to do that for white too, divide them to 'sweet' and 'sharp' and very little else and generally buy by price and country alone rather than varietal or anything else.

    I think there is an overlap in taste between whiskeys and some white wines (e.g. those from burgundy, riesling). If you look at the tasting notes for whiskeys and white wines you get a lot of mentions of things like honey, apricot etc, especially those whiskeys that have been matured in ex-sherry casks.

    Actually if you shop in LIDL their red wine weekend offer is a great place to sample a variety... assuming you are up early!
    On another thread a Sunday Times sample offer on 12 reds was mentioned, that'd be a great place to start.

    You probably want to tick the boxes on these and then dive deeper depending on which ones grab you...
    Pinot Noir (from Chile or New Zealand) compared against a Red Burgundy
    Chilean Merlot, Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon
    Australian Cabernet-Syrah blend
    French Bordeaux (this usually has both Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon)
    Malbec
    Rioja and Rioja Riserva from Spain
    Cotes du Rhone
    Chianti (I find Chianti tastes nicer after a chance to breathe)

    "To follow knowledge like a sinking star..." (Tennyson's Ulysses)



  • Registered Users Posts: 33,519 ✭✭✭✭dudara


    From a French perspective, the classic red grapes are Pinot Noir, Gamay (Burgundy and Beaujolais), Cabarnet Sauvignon, Merlot (Bordeaux), Syrah, Grenache & Mourvèdre (Rhône) and to lesser degrees Cabarnet Franc, Cinsault and Malbec.

    Other great grapes are Tempranillo (used in Rioja), Sangiovese (Chianti), Nebbiolo (Barolo) and Touriga Nacional (Port & Douro Wines)

    But it’s so much more than just the grape. The climate, viticulture and wine making techniques used will have a huge impact. Syrah from France is a different beast when compared to Shiraz from Australia. Or compare a Bordeaux Cabarnet Sauvignon to a California version.

    When it comes to picking reds that *most* people would like, I tend to find that Right Bank Bordeaux, Rioja & Chianti hit the spot. They tend to be more mid-range in terms of body & flavour. Not too strong, not too light. However, I think there’s also a strong swing to juicier, fruitier reds, like those from the south of Spain.


  • Registered Users Posts: 9,151 ✭✭✭limnam


    dudara wrote: »
    French wine never really caught my interest when I was "younger". Other regions appealed to me because they simply tasted better. However, over time, and especially as I studied for my WSET Level 2 and Level 3, I learned (and tasted) more and more about French wine. I think everyone has a "lightbulb" wine moment, when you taste one that makes you think "this is what all the fuss is about". For me, that lightbulb wine was a white Burgundy from Puligny-Montrachet. I just went....mmmm.

    France is one of the homes of winemaking and understanding French wines (to any degree) will greatly help you appreciate wines and winemaking in any other country.


    Any decent books you would suggest on reading about French wine?


  • Registered Users Posts: 33,519 ✭✭✭✭dudara


    Most of my books are at the fairly detailed level, don’t think I have any specifically on french wine. Jancis Robinson’s Oxford Companion to Wine is a detailed resource.

    In general, I think the Wine Folly website & books are a good resource, although there’s an Anerican slant to it. Jancis Robinson has also written some good mass-market books too.


  • Registered Users Posts: 27,387 ✭✭✭✭odyssey06


    If, like me, you drink wine with food then the ideal book is Victoria Moore's "Wine Dine Dictionary"... it is split in two, first half is listed A-Z by food with suggested pairings; then the second half it is reversed, look up a wine and see what food suggestions she recommends.

    For general introduction, Oz Clarke is pretty good.

    Putting wine into its historic context, Hugh Johnson's The Story of Wine is a wonderful work of history.

    Ps I borrowed them through the public library system which is now integrated nationwide.

    "To follow knowledge like a sinking star..." (Tennyson's Ulysses)



  • Registered Users Posts: 9,151 ✭✭✭limnam


    Luigi Righetti Valpolicella Campolieti

    I picked this up in karwig wines in Cork. 18e

    Oddly I can't find it anywhere else in Ireland. Surprising.

    This for me is one of the best ripasso's under 20e. that I managed to find in Ireland.

    Really silky smooth with a great balance. Some really nice baked winter fruits pop out of the glass. If you like your ripasso I'd strongly recommend giving this a spin.

    Campolieti-500x500.jpg


  • Registered Users Posts: 33,519 ✭✭✭✭dudara


    Il Capolavoro Appassimento, €15 from SuperValu.

    Was given this by a house guest, not one I'd normally pick up myself. I was pleasantly surprised by this - nice deep ruby colour, lot of sweet cherries, dried grapes/raisins, balanced by some peppery spice. Not overly complex, but smooth and very decent for the money.

    5704634182563_3.JPG


  • Registered Users Posts: 124 ✭✭corvus4906


    occasionally on special for 10er too from Supervalu. Solid Appassimento!


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,645 ✭✭✭Melendez


    This post has been deleted.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 9,151 ✭✭✭limnam


    odyssey06 wrote: »

    I am a big fan of the Guigal Cotes du Rhone, think it's about €16 in Supervalu and off licences.

    I had this last night with a nice bit of rib eye and enjoyed it.

    The only issue I had with it is while I tend to like wines that are 13.5%+ I felt the alcohol over powered slightly. But for a 16e bottle of wine I'm probably been too critical.

    Definitely one I'll try again


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